CONCEPT – REFUGE CROPS

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 CONCEPT – REFUGE CROPS

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• What is refuge and what is its purpose? Farmers who plant crops with Bt trait(s) must also plant a refuge area -- a block or strip of crops without the Bt gene. The purpose of the refuge area is to prevent pests from developing resistance to the technology.
• Nature of resistance : Because insects are live creatures, they evolve. This is where resistance comes from. Weeds and diseases also can evolve to adapt to their growing conditions, which also leads to herbicide and fungicide resistance, respectively. Resistance will eventually happen, but there are steps farmers can take to try to slow the process. One of the steps for Bt traits specifically is to plant a refuge crop. A refuge in this case would be a non-Bt variety of the crop planted in the same field as the Bt crop. 
• How does that work : By leaving non-Bt crops in the field, insects who feed on that crop remain susceptible to Bt technology. When they then mate with the rare insects that survive after feeding on Bt corn, they produce offspring that is susceptible to the technology. This works to preserve the effectiveness of Bt technology, which helps the corn plants protect themselves from the pests that feed on their roots, damage them, and ultimately reduce yield for farmers.
• Why do some products have lower refuge requirements than others? The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requires a corn field that contains insect-protected (or Bt) crops with a single mode-of-action against corn rootworm to be planted with 20% non-Bt corn in corn-growing areas (the U.S. Corn Belt) and 50% non-Bt in cotton-growing areas (the U.S. Cotton Belt).
• Changing norms : New seed technologies that have multiple Bt genes, or modes-of-action, provide additional protection and effectively reduce the likelihood of insect resistance developing. This enabled the EPA to reduce the size of structured refuge from 20% to 5% in corn-growing areas, and from 50% to 20% in cotton-growing areas. 
• How does a farmer benefit from a reduced refuge? Farmers benefit in: cost savings, planting simplification, and increased yield. Additionally, reduced refuge allows farmers to reduce insecticide use, as more of their crop has in-plant protection.

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